The Road Part 1:They walk,talk,walk,eat,walk again.Im so enthralled!

       There is one word to describe the beginning(and what seems to be the middle and end) of The Road:Bleak.The first part of the novel is just a long description of two characters(Papa and...boy?For some reason I don't feel like they're related) and their journey from someplace to the south...of someplace.There is no doubt that this is an apocalyptic novel because although it is set in the future the characters are acting as if its the middle ages.Building fires and walking EVERYWHERE and always looking behind your back for something sinister.Can you imagine?Also the "Papa" commented on the fact that he hasn't used a calender in years.Think about all the birthday parties he must have missed!
        It seems as though the biggest thing the apocalyptic genre has in common with the dystopian genre is that they're both set in the future. The apocalyptic theme runs on survival and how mankind deals with it.It's different from the dystopian genre because there is no stability-in fact the lack of it is the plot!The enemy, while can be other humans,seems to be nature:Lack of food,unbearable weather,that evil squirrel that keeps popping up. The dystopian genre is a bit different. There is stability(with consequences) and the enemy is the government,if the people can even recognize that. The people in the dystopian genre seem to have less truth than the ones in the apocalyptic genre.
        Now as for the writing,I'm not a big fan.We get glimpses of thoughts and barely any emotion which I guess is the author's way of showing the harshness of that world;the characters are so used to the pain that they don't even have to think or talk about it.And the grammar...McCarthy has stated that he doesn't use quotation marks because he doesn't want to "blot the page up with weird little marks". Now, I'm all for artistic expression. You want to use run on sentences?Go ahead! You want to act as if punctuation doesn't exist?Do your thing, just don't expect everyone to be pleased with it.As a student that has been taught grammar since I was a wee child, it is hard for me to enjoy a book that seems to go against everything I've been taught.It becomes hard to follow when an author deliberately uses bad grammar to make a point. Sometimes when I read, I doze off for a split second and when I come back I want to know whether I'm in the beginning of a sentence or the end or if I'm reading dialogue or scene description.So gurl I get watchu tryin to do, I just don't like it.